My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke Essay

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Any interpretation of this story is due to the reader’s personal emotions and feelings toward his or her own Papa. This story can be either a dance between him and his father, thus bringing them closer together. However, there is a darker side of this poem, on this side it is an unsettling fight between a boy and his drunken father and all the intimacy of the dance does not make an impression on the reader and is overshadowed by the anger they feel. Theodore Roethke manipulates our emotions in this poem using literary convention. A Waltz is a lighthearted, easily accessible dance. In a waltz, a couple sways back and forth as they go in a circle. Our emotions of this poem seem to follow this same path as we can see comforting and…show more content…

Any interpretation of this story is due to the reader’s personal emotions and feelings toward his or her own Papa. This story can be either a dance between him and his father, thus bringing them closer together. However, there is a darker side of this poem, on this side it is an unsettling fight between a boy and his drunken father and all the intimacy of the dance does not make an impression on the reader and is overshadowed by the anger they feel. Theodore Roethke manipulates our emotions in this poem using literary convention. A Waltz is a lighthearted, easily accessible dance. In a waltz, a couple sways back and forth as they go in a circle. Our emotions of this poem seem to follow this same path as we can see comforting and frightening images at the same time in this poem making us go in circles on whether this poem is about a boy dancing with his father, or a boy fighting his father. An example of this “waltz” we have in this poem is in the first stanza as we get the frightening image of “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Line 1-2). Then he follows with “we romped,” thus undercutting the serious tone that we are given from the first stanza; however, the romping is giving seriousness immediately when the pans slide from the kitchen shelves and “The mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself.” Another part that can be taken in either a positive or a negative reading is when the poem reads, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one

poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, describes and gives the readers an insight of what child abuse is like. The poem presents a relationship between a drunken father and his son. Therefore, the setting, sensory details, and word choice of the poem allows the reader to understand the violence the little boy goes through after his father returns from work.
The setting of the poem is very important to understand key elements that the poet is trying to express. The poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” is…

was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother 's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt
The poem, "My Papa 's Waltz", written by Theodore Roethke, is written in such a way that creates many debate and contestation over…

Childhood Memories in "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence
"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence are two poems in which grown men recall memories of their childhood. "My Papa's Waltz" has a quietly sad, almost resigned tone as Roethke relives his nightly dances with his father as a young boy. Lawrence's "Piano" is somewhat dreamy as a man is taken back by a song to his childhood. While both are presented to us through similar personas…

My Papa’s Waltz
The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke presents a memory from a young boy waltzing with his father. The waltz is a metaphor that represents the relationship the boy has with his father. Although the poem may seem like a happy and sweet story of a father and son dancing in the kitchen there are also some darker underlying tones. The speaker, who is the young boy, is directing theses words towards his father, but does not actually express them directly to the father, instead…

Theodore Huebner Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the son of Otto Roethke and Helen Huebner. As a student at Saginaw's Arthur Hill High School, Roethke demonstrated early promise in a speech on the Junior Red Cross that was published in twenty-six languages. However, the death of his father from cancer in 1923 was a loss that would powerfully shape Roethke's psychic and creative lives. Roethke attitude toward his father Otto was depicted in his widely anthologized work "My Papa's Waltz" written…

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke illustrates an image of a father-son romp around the kitchen that is both harsh in its play and delicate in its memory. Roethke illustrates the poem’s images from his own childhood memories. Roethke uses simple words to create puzzling phrases that could be interpreted in different ways. The poem is ambiguous due to certain word choices that have baffling double meanings. Roethke’s poem paints an image of his childhood interactions with his father. Roethke paints…

Affection in "My Papa's Waltz"
Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" is a gentle poem, made so by its affectionate and simple tone, its innocence, its light-heartedness, and its humor. While other readers, like John Ciardi, have found it to be a "poem of terror" (Fong 80), when one considers the original drafts, as John J. McKenna does, one sees a much less forbidding melodrama and a much more down-to-earth representation of home-life. This paper will show how Roethke's "Waltz" uses language, tone…

In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, was a great poem that can mean many different things to many different people of this world. To me I think it was just a boy who just wanted to spend time with his dad before he has to go to bed. The boy probably does not get to spend time with his dad that much. The father probably works all day and all week and this is the only time the boy gets to spend with him. Roethke use of words in this poem is amazing. The use of the words in this story can mean…

The Actual Meaning of "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual…

With My Father
When introduced to “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, there is a sense of nostalgia; like watching an old black and white movie. Contradictory to the title however, the poem depicts a perplexing scene of a father drunkenly dancing his son up to bed. There is a bit of controversy about this poem over whether this is about a childhood memory of a son’s cherished moment with his father, or if it is about a violent, dysfunctional family situation. In fact it is both. Theodore Roethke…